April 2010

04/30/2010

Hi all, this is my version of fusion food- a mix of Chinese Stir-Fry and rice cooked in the Turkish way. The colours looked great and the taste is fantabulous! Top it all up with a few pieces of prawns- viola!!! It is a mouth-watering treat for you. There is an attached pic of the finished product- do try this recipe and enjoy the good cuisine:)

What u need:

1)Prawns ( half a kilo)

2)Cauliflower ( 1, with florets separated)

3)Red Pepper ( 1, diced)

4)Yellow Pepper ( 1, diced)

5)Onion ( 2, chopped)

6)Rice ( 2 cups)

7)Cumin ( 2 tablespoon)

8)Tomato paste ( half can)

9)Oyster sauce ( 2 tablespoon)

10)Dark Soya Sauce ( 1 tablespoon)

11)Salt and pepper to taste

Steps:

Cooking Vegetables

1)Prepare all the vegetables by cutting them up.

2)Fry onions from 1 chopped bulb till they are slightly brown.

3)Place all the other vegetables into the pan and fry in oyster sauce for about 10 mins. Season with dark soya sauce. Add some salt and pepper if you like. Once the vegetables are cooked, put them aside.

Cooking Rice

4)Fry the remaining onions. Then throw the rice in and fry in the stated amount of tomato paste and cumin for 5 mins. Cover the rice with water with the water level at least 1 inch above the level of the rice. Boil until the water dries up and the rice is cooked.

Cooking the Prawns

1.Cover the prawns in water and boil them until they turn red. Drain the prawns.

04/28/2010

Fear devalue a person. Prolonged exposure to it eats the person inside out and destroys self-confidence. Love increase a person's value... it builds the person's self-esteem and self-confidence. Valuation is performed by the words we speak. Life is too short to be bogged down by fear and self-limiting beliefs. Speak hope, faith, love, confidence, possibility to yourself and love ones today. Start now...

Dear friends, I believe you also have your thoughts about what I shared today. I am open to hear your comments and even your life-experiences based on what I wrote...if you have people u know who will benefit from the words I shared, do pass it on...and hopefully it will be edifying to them:)

04/27/2010

Do you wish to optimise your child's learning? You may not want to hot house your kid by putting him through many courses in various centres as that might indirectly deprive your kid of his childhood and also time with you. The tips below might be of some use to you if letting your child receive some mental stimulation and boosting his neural network is what you are thinking of...

1.Talk to her

Listening and talking are the 2 most important things you can do for your child. If no one speaks to your child, then she won’t pick up language and if she does not get listened to, her brain does not get the practice it needs to start thinking about how to communicate.

Ways to engage--- mothers who chat more tend to have children who speak earlier.Try to name things, compare them, describe them and explain things to them.

Turn off background noise--- having the TV and radio on kills listening and talking

Give her full attention when she speaks--- get down to her level and make eye contact

2.Read to her

Reading develops attention span, and helps in the bonding. Make reading bedtime stories as part of your routine.

3. Music and Singing

Music can enrich mental and emotional development. Singing repetitive lyrics and nursery rhymes like “The Wheels On The Bus” aids memory skills and encourage your child to listen out for new sounds and words.

Ways to engage your child in music--- Sing at bedtime

Teach other things with music--- for example “This is The Way We Wash Our Hands”, “ABC” help your child remember words.

Allow the child to choose the musical instrument she likes

4.Hugging

A child needs to feel safe and loved in order to learn. A study from Texas shows that babies who are held and touched more often resulted in them having bigger brains with more neural pathways than children who received less care and attention at a young age.

What should you do--- make hugging and cuddling part of your daily routine

This morning I felt the urge to make a glass of Milo Dinosaur ( perhaps I just need something to perk me up first thing in the day and also something that reminds me of my beloved hometown of Singapore). It is energising to drink it and the milo powder is not too sweet to your tongue. This is one of my favourite drinks in Singapore and you can find it easily in most Singaporean coffee shops. The usual cost of one glass is about $2-$2.50. Some coffee shops even make this drink in humongous sizes.This is what you need to make Milo Dinosaur...and you can DIY fairly easily in the comfort of your own home.

04/26/2010

Shopping in Phnom Penh is a major attraction for most foreigners here and your eyes get to feast on lots of colourful items. You can also derive pleasure from the bargaining that you cannot do in some other countries. Central Market is constructed in 1935-37. It has an interesting shape which makes it like an art-deco building. It is shaped in a cross with a unique central dome. There are four wings housing stalls selling a wide variety of items. Part of it is undergoing renovation for the time being. There is the presence of souvenir merchants hawking everything from T-shirts and postcards to silver curios and kramas. Inside is a dazzling display of jewels and gold. Electronic goods, stationery, secondhand clothes and flowers. The alleys are wide so you will not run the risk of bumping into fellow shoppers and you can browse through the shops at your own pace. The shopkeepers are most willing to give you a discount when you ask for it and most are by and large friendly to the foreigners.

I came across a few flower shops selling flower baskets which my friend explained to me will be bought and given to companies which are newly opened. However, here you do not find wreaths made for funerals. Because I am a flower lover, I just captured this shot to be posted on my site.

04/23/2010

But how do we perceive beauty and why are some people or objects considered more beautiful than some others? Psychological tests have considered symmetry and proportion as extremely important in the perception of beauty. Beauty is also more holistic than specific as a beautiful object is judged as a whole package that is appealing rather than judged on the basis of its parts. Freudian or psychoanalytic explanations of beauty are scarce but psychoanalytic concepts could be used to consider our judgment of beauty as a projection or wish fulfillment so people attractive to us are typically ones who we admire or who in some way represent our own desires and fancies.One of the best things about the scientific field of psychology is that there is such a vast array of potential research and thus so much unexplored territory. Every stimulus in our environment can be studied in relation to the mind and, if given the proper measures, empirical conclusions could be drawn about each one of them. For this reason I have decided to touch on a potential topic of psychology that is probably not so high on the priority list for experimental psychologists – and this is the topic of haircuts.”Wabi Sabi” (pronounced “wah-bee sah-bee”) was formalized as the Zen Buddhism tea ceremony evolved. Zen Buddhism originated in India, traveled through China in the 6th Century, and to Japan in the 12th century. The ancient wisdom of Wabi Sabi practitioners helps today’s busy home makers with interesting interior design ideas. Wabi Sabi interior design followers learn to relax, take time appreciate the beauty and simplicity of natural design, and to know that their home doesn’t need perfection to bring joy, which compares to our research findings in residential Design Psychology.

One of the main reasons that most people do not achieve their ultimate goals and dreams in life is because they are emotionally and psychologically unequipped to handle the loneliness and isolation that is required to evolve to the next level of success. When friendscall and beg you to go out to the movies, get a bite to eat, or hang out at your favorite club you will be forced to decide whether or not spending time with them is the best use of your time, given that you have 2 exams and a research paper due within a week. Most of us will make the wrong decision many times before we do what is ultimately best to achieve our goals.In most households we find items that decorate the walls such as paintings and prints that please our eyes and minds. This is just part of the process of living our lives. In our lives we would probably never consider hanging a blank sheet or canvas in a picture frame on any of our walls within our living areas. Though the frame may, within its own right, be a work of art but the inside of the frame is totally blank and it doesn’t look well hanging on that wall. Not until a picture or print of some sort is placed in that frame will it look appropriate.A great deal of psychological study has been placed in the realm of figuring out what it is about board games which makes us, as people, so devoted and loving of the activity. What exactly is it about the brain that makes it so attached to the activity of competing against each other to solve a problem and win the game? A great deal of it relates to the way that we, as humans, have grown over time and both the value that we place on certain ideals and the deficiencies that we try to make up for in our daily lives. Board games offer us a chance to fulfill many of these needs and because of this, they have maintained a place in our culture for quite some time.Women often wonder what exactly it is that makes men fall in love. There have been many theories over the years, focused on everything from good cookingto frequent love-making. Almost universally, every attempt to discover what makes men fall in love fails when it focuses on such superficial aspects of relationship-building. The simple truth is that there is nothing mysterious or magical about making a man fall in love – but there is a secret psychology involved in the process. That psychology is something with which every woman should be familiar.A simple way to slow down and enjoy life is to have greater Appreciation of Beauty and Excellence. Positive psychology researchers define this character strength as “the ability to find, recognize, and take pleasure in the existence of goodness” (Peterson & Seligman, 2004). So what does this strength look like? Let me share a story about when I was an exchange student in Germany. My host sister and I decided to go on a walk, so I started off at my typical brisk pace. Suddenly she grabbed my arm and stopped me in my tracks. “In Germany, we walk slowly; we look around and take in the beautiful sights”, she explained.Most women never advance further into a man’s heart than the first stage of attraction simply because he soon discovers that the woman in question is nothing more than a beautiful package. She may be a well-rounded individual with a sparkling personality, but if all she focuses on is attracting him with her body, he will soon assume that she has nothing more to offer. The secret psychology that makes men fall in love with women requires that the woman have more depth – or else he will soon lose interest and never progress to the second phase of the love process.The level of control that a board game can provide will often fulfill some of our deepest needs and desires. It allows us to take fate within out hands, within a certain, controlled environment, and allow us to pursue our goals in a way that will have no lasting effects on our lives. It gives us a chance for escapism, where we can enter into a situation and pretend that we are anyone or anything. It gives us a sense of fantasy, allowing us to fulfill our needs for a thrill while staying within the comfort and safety of our own homes. Board games can be a great way for us to feel content with ourselves and the world around us and playing one can be a great way to give ourselves a boost of esteem.

04/22/2010

Three fish lived in a pond. One was named "Plan ahead", another was "Think fast" and the third was called "Wait and see". One day they heard a fisherman say he would be going to cast his net in their pond the next day.

"Plan ahead" said," I am swimming down the river tonight".

"Think fast" said, "I am sure I will come up with a plan".

"Wait and See" lazily said," I just can't think about it now".

When the fisherman cast his nets, "Plan ahead" was able to escape from his nets. But "Think fast" and "Wait and see" were caught by the fisherman.

"Think fast" quickly rolled his belly up and pretended to be dead. "Oh, this fish is no good!" said the fisherman and threw him safely back into the water. Howvever, "Wait and see" ended up in the fish market.

That is why people say, "In times of danger, when the net is cast, plan ahead or plan to think fast!"

There are 2 camps of thpught on this issue- one who believes in sparig the rod and another who feels that doing so will condone bad behaviour. Expereincing only parental discipline leaves children vulnerable because they only know their 'shoulds' but encouraging self discipline will create a thinking child who can recognise the socially appropriate behaviours and in fact it is important to know the 'whys'. Blind obedience is not helpful in today's context. Children are faced with choices from the outside world at an early age and by the time they reach school-going age, they have the ability to make their own decisions. However one question to ask ourselves is will they be armed with the knowledge and ability to make the right decisions?

Experts advised against using physical punishment especially on preschoolers because it has negative implications that will affect the child later in life. The child might respond to beating in three ways- they accept it and feel like a victim; they react to it and find their own ways to exert power over others; or they resist and rebel by telling lies and not eating.

The negative implications of caning include their self esteem being eroded and may lead them to become insecure and fearful. This may lead to lying to avoid being caned, disintegrating bonds between parent and child and create resentment. It may also drive the child to think that violence is acceptable. Punishment crosses the line when the cane is used excessively over trivial matters and especially so when the child is not even clear about what he has done wrong.

To help the child to understand between what is right and wrong and so they can learn to be responsible for their own actions.

Setting rules

Having clear, concise rules lets the child know what he can and cannot do. Being consistent in the consequences when rules are broken reinforces the child's motivation ti keep the rules in mind. Be firm and 'walk the talk'.

Explain firmly and patiently

If the child made a mistake, explain why and explain to him how his behaviour affects others. Ask him what he thinks he should or should not do next time. Moreover, always reassure him that you still love him.

Withold privileges

Whether it is reducing tv watching, doing this puts across the point you are unhappy about his behaviour. When he does well, it ios just as important for you to praise him.

Time Out

Get him to sit in a corner for a few minuteswith no one to talk to and nothing to play with. This teaches him to know what he did was wrong and helps him to understand between cause and effect.After a few minutes, get him to come over and apologise.

Teach By Example

Young children tend to imitate adults' actions and behaviour. If you don't want your kids to watch telly all day, you must be restrained in your own telly time.

Build Rapport

Rapport will foster understanding and children tend to listen to those who understand, love and care for them.

04/21/2010

There has been a few articles on this topic... The newborn knows how to recognise the scent of the mother once placed close to the mother's bosom and an initial bond is formed between the baby and the mother. As time goes on, the baby's vision improved and is able to see his mother more clearly. He looks at her intently without blinking and as the mother looks back with lovingkindness, the feeling of motherly love is strengthened. As the interaction is frequent and positive, a relationship is formed. I think the strongest love on earth is the love of a mother for her baby. The amount of sacrifice involved, the time and effort, the love spent on the child is satisfying for the mother who asks for nothing in return. The love is unconditional and totally selfless. The mother always looks to protect the child from any harm at any cost. This kind of protection extends into adulthood even after the child has stepped into society to work. The mother will be worried about how much he or she is eating, whether he or she sleeps enough and if he or she is happy in the job. How great is the mother's love!